Sam Howard contributed to this article
Pregame
Standings before tonight:
1. Miami – 191
2. Ohio – 172
3. Eastern Michigan – 155
4. Buffalo – 147
5. Bowling Green – 135
6. Toledo – 109
7. Akron – 96
8. Ball State – 87
“Miami has a big day today and we will need to exchange punches,” Ohio coach Greg Werner said before the second day started. “The second days were usually our weakest days, but not this year. We will have a strong second day.”
Ohio undeniably had a strong showing in the preliminary swims this morning, as all but one swimmer bested their season best times, helping Ohio to 10 appearances in the finals tonight.
The divers followed suit by qualifying the whole team of four for the 1-meter diving finals. Sophomore Haleigh Bartlett and Mary Rose-Hillstrom will be back in action tonight in the consolation final, while Morgan Srail and Morgan Capcik will be able to rest until tomorrow night to take on the championship final.
Still, Ohio’s chances to take over the first place after tonight are slightly diminished. Miami has qualified 14 swimmers and two divers for the final and has more scoring opportunities. The Bobcat’s only chance to make up this deficit is by placing the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay ahead of Miami.
Scoring System
All swimmers who will be swimming tonight, will be scoring at least one point for their team. An individual win is worth 20 points, second place earns 17 points, third place 16, etc. A relay win is worth 40 points, second place earns 34 points, third place 32, etc.
Seeds
400-yard IM
Laurin Williams goes into the championship final being seeded 7th with a time of 4:23.15 minutes. She bested her previous season best by 11 seconds this morning.
Gyurke will head back to the pool as well to compete in the consolation final. The sophomore is seeded 16th with a time of 4:27.95 minutes
100-yard butterfly
Addy Ferguson will be competing in the championship final after swimming a new personal best of 54.78 seconds. Haley Clark missed the championship final by three hundredths of a second, but will compete in the consolation final with the best seeded time.
200-yard Freestyle
Katey Brooks will compete in the championship final, being seeded in 7th place with a personal best of 1:50.51 minutes. Michelle Gasior will swim in the consolation final
100-yard Breaststroke
Tori Bagan qualified for the championship final with a season best time of 1:03.01 - the fifth best time in the preliminary round
100-yard Backstroke
Freshman Ferguson swam a MAC record in a time of 54.22 seconds this morning to qualify for the championship finals. Ironically the record only lasted for two minutes, as Miami senior Leah Thornton bested the record with a time of 53.40 seconds.
Senior Anastasia Bocharnikova will take on the consolation final.
Finals
200-yard Medley Relay
The Bobcats won the first event of the night with a school record breaking time of 1:39.87 minutes ahead of Miami, which finished in second place with a time of 1:40.41 minutes. Ohio's time was just 0.19 seconds off the MAC record. Still, the Bobcats showed off endurance in the event, as senior Lauren Funk pulled away from a pack of four in the last 25-yards of the race. Addy Ferguson, Tori Bagan, Haley Clark and Funk were swimming for the Bobcats.
400-yard Individual Medley
Sophomore Steph Gyurke finished fourth in the consolation final and bested her seed by four places. The key to her swim was cutting another two seconds of her previous season best time, which she had posted this morning in the prelims.
Assistant swimming and diving coach Derrick Roe kept jumping up and down on deck during the race, while the fans were all standing and cheering. Heated atmosphere in the Alumni Arena tonight.
Laurin Williams places sixth in the championship final in a time of 4:22.60 minutes and improves her seed by one spot. Moreover did she cut 1.45 seconds off her previous season best, which she had swum this morning.
100-yard Butterfly
Haley Clark just came of the podium after receiving her gold medal for participating in the winning 200-yard freestyle relay and had to go right back into the pool again to compete in the consolation final. This time, however, Clark's swim didn't end in first place but in fourth in a time of 55.70 seconds.
Freshman Addy Ferguson finished the championship final in seventh place in a time of 54.51 which is another personal best and and faster than the NCAA B-standard. Ferguson will be back in the pool in the 100-yard backstroke later on tonight.
200-yard freestyle
Michelle Gasior swam a time of 1:52.53 minutes to finish sixth in the consolation final. Although she was a second slower than in the preliminary rounds, she improved her seed by one spot. The Bobcats have so far improved their seedings in all but one event.
Katey Brooks finished the championship final in fourth place in a new personal best of 1:50.22 minutes, which was the 7th best time in program history. The rest of the Bobcats were jumping up and down on their benches, cheering the senior on.
Buffalo senior Brittney Kuras won the event in a time of 1:47.83 minutes. Her win moves Buffalo to third place in the team scores. Ohio is still second with a score of 265 points. Miami leads with 312 points
100-yard Breaststroke
The consolation final was the first event tonight, in which Ohio wasn't presented. It was won by Akron freshman Hannah Raspopovich.
Tori Bagan swam to a fifth place finish in a school record time of 1:02.44 minutes, which also got her the NCAA B-cut. Impressive showing by the sophomore after battling through injuries during the summer and fall.
The championship final was won by Bridgette Ruehl of Ball State who swam a pool record time of 1:00.58 minutes.
100-yard backstroke
Anastasia Bocharnikova touched the wall after 56.48 seconds to finish fifth in the consolation final. She was actually seeded second in her heat, but swam half a second slower than she did in the preliminary rounds this morning.
"I want to finish in the top three at MACs," Addy Ferguson had said a month ago - now she did more than that. With a personal bset of 54.02 seconds she won the 100-yard backstroke. The freshman was able to hold of Miami senior Leah Thornton by 2 hundredths of a second. Thornton was already a Olympic Trial qualifier. Impressive race by Ferguson.
3-meter diving consolation final
Haleigh Bartlett and Mary Rose-Hillstrom will take on the consolation final in the next couple of minutes.
800-Freestyle Relay
The 3-meter diving results are not announced yet, but the relays are walking in for the final event of the night. The people are already standing here in the Alumni Arena. Should be a good finish for the second night.
The Arena reached its boiling point tonight when the swimmers went into their last 50-yard - but in the end only the Buffalo fans were cheering as they finished in first place with a time of 7:22.04 minutes. Ohio finished fifth in a time of 7:27.13 after racing from behind after the first 100-yards.
Day 2 - Summary
The scores after the second day are as follows:
1. Miami - 436
2. Ohio - 337
3. Bowling Green - 327
Ohio was able to secure second place today but wasn't able to stop Miami from expanding the lead. Ferguson had a strong showing today, finishing seventh in the 100-yard butterfly and first in the 100-yard backstroke. In the latter event Ferguson swam a new school record in a time of 54.02 seconds beating RAchel Stearns previous record of 54.55 seconds. Feruguson was also part of the school record breaking 200-yard Medley Relay.
Tori Bagan also came out strong tonight - despite finishing fifth - by besting her old school record in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.44 minutes.
Although having had a strong day today, the Bobcats have to watch out to not lose their second place to Bowling Green tomorrow. The Falcons had a surprisingly good conference meet so far and are only 10 points behind the Bobcats.
Whether Ohio is able to come back in the fight with Miami for the conference champion, will be determined in tomorrow's events.
Tomorrow's events include: 1650-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, 400-yard freestyle and the 3-meter diving championship final.
Reactions
“It was a nice night obviously. We did a much better job of qualifying this morning than we did yesterday. We'd rather be winning by 100 points than being down 99 points, but we're going to try to be the best we can be. We're going to try to make tomorrow morning the best session we've had at this meet and take care of our business and put the pressure on Miami and the rest of the conference to do their business. Points will fall where the points will fall. We're definitely looking foward, not over our back." - Greg Werner
"It's great. It's a really great feeling just to know that I'm coming back. I know I wouldn't have gotten here without my teammates, friends, family, coaches and everybody." - Tori Bagan
Up next
The Bobcats will return to the Alumni Arena tomorrow at 11 A.M. to take on their third and last day of competition.
